Opinion | Drills show US is committed to a sustained military presence in Western Pacific

Multiple exercises involving marines and navy come amid rising tensions in region and spiralling disputes between Washington and Beijing, Collin Koh writes

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The US military drills are focused on addressing the long-term security challenge posed by a near-peer competitor like China. Photo: Handout

Published: 10:00am, 22 Sep 2019Updated: 11:11pm, 22 Sep 2019

The US Navy and Marine Corps have been engaged in a series of training activities and build-up in the Western Pacific region. Earlier in the month, the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit staged a series of sequential expeditionary combined-arms operations from the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group ships to shore in the Philippine and East China Seas as well as in the vicinity of Okinawa to show its flexibility in simultaneous multi-island seizures and other operations in a contested littoral environment.

More recently, the US Transportation Command staged the “turbo activation” of 28 logistics ships – from a fleet of 87 vessels spread across the Military Sealift Command, Department of Transportation and the Maritime Administration – in the largest mobilisation activity of its kind since Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, to test the ability to move heavy equipment overseas in times of conflict.

This flurry of activity is a manifestation of long-standing plans and initial training activities that have gradually grown in scope and sophistication.

The sequential expeditionary combined-arms exercise formed part of the marines’ efforts to refine the expeditionary advance base operations and the littoral operations in a contested environment concepts, alongside the navy’s work to refine its distributed maritime operations concept. All these efforts are in no small part motivated by what the US defence establishment sees as the growing threat posed by the People’s Liberation Army – notably the expanding missile arsenal – against US forces in the Western Pacific region.

The South China Sea constitutes a key area of interest where the “contested littoral environment” is concerned. The US Indo-Pacific Command has been engaging in drills since the beginning of the year to trial its ability to distribute assets, personnel and material across vast swathes of land and waters, in the face of challenges of operating as small units far from the conveniences of a consolidated strike group.

Such demonstrations are timely in signalling American commitment to a sustained military presence in the Western Pacific, focusing on addressing the long-term security challenge posed by a near-peer competitor such as China – when there remains trepidation among regional governments about the growing uncertainties that result from the Sino-US trade friction, simmering tensions in the South China Sea, among others.

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Multiple exercises involving marines and navy come amid rising tensions in region and spiralling disputes between Washington and Beijing, Collin Koh writes

Multiple exercises involving marines and navy come amid rising tensions in region and spiralling disputes between Washington and Beijing, Collin Koh writes